Words of Wisdom from interim President Dr. Wanda Austin

On Monday, December 10, USC’s Interim President Dr. Wanda Austin greeted over 100 participants at the USC Women in Management Speaker event and shared what she had learned from her professional and personal life journey on leadership.

Dr. Austin talked about how female leaders can accomplish by focusing on what truly matters to us without being intimidated by various “labels” and prejudice. Here are some of her tips:

Bring solutions: Everybody can be a critic. Let us be sure that we are the person to bring solutions instead of problems.

Embrace changes: Don’t look at changes as a door closing. Look around to see what new doors are opening.

Take time to be proactive with your team and your colleagues: Check in and ask how they are doing, what makes them unique, what motivates them. Figure out what is important to them.

You are not the boss: There are important stakeholders all around you. Be a conductor, try to keep everyone on the same beat and the same tune.

Ask good questions: You need to ask people questions to be better informed in order to make better decisions

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes: We learn much more from our mistakes and failure than success.

Be a mentor: It is rewarding to other and yourself and helps build a supportive community.

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Dr. Austin used this amazing RBG quote to close her speech and received the Honorary Member Award, presented by Laura Ponder from USC Women in Management.